Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid Priced From $33,400, 47 Miles Range

Honda has (finally) announced pricing on the upcoming Clarity Plug-in Hybrid, and its a fairly competitive offering, especially for its larger size class (midsize).

2018 Honda Clarity Plug-in Hybrid

Going on sale in the US on December 1st, the Honda Clarity Plug-in Hybrid will be available from $33,400 (plus tax, license, registration, $890 destination charge and options).

Of note: the 2018 Chevrolet Volt starts from a near identical MSRP ($33,320) and while it offers a little more range (~6 miles more), it does so in a smaller package (officially a compact)

We should also note that unlike the Clarity Fuel Cell (which arrived late last year) and the Clarity Electric (which arrived inlate July), the plug-in hybrid is available at Honda dealerships nationwide.

Because of its 17 kWh battery, the Clarity PHEV also qualifies for the full $7,500 federal tax credit, putting the effective base starting price from $26,790 (incl. dest. charge).

Honda Clarity PHEV: 47 miles of EPA range, from $26,790

There is also a Touring trim from $36,600 ($29,990 after deducting federal tax credit and dest. charge).

The EPA range for the Clarity PHEV stands for 47 miles (76 km), which is one of the best result among plug-in hybrids that accommodates 5 people. Just check out the rear seat room (pictured below).

Lots of room in the back of the 2018 Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid

The strong pricing brings up a couple questions:

Is the Chevrolet Volt and/or Ford Fusion Energi even competitive with this offering? And,

Does it matter? Despite saying all the positive things we want to hear, the jury is still out on how well Honda will actually supply and promote the Clarity PHEV

“The Clarity Plug-in Hybrid takes a big step forward in bringing Honda electrified vehicles into the mainstream with no compromise to performance, range or comfort. The Clarity Plug-in Hybrid leads the pack with the highest all-electric range rating of any plug-in hybrid sedan and the most comprehensive standard equipment, spacious five-passenger cabin and a roomy trunk – all at an affordable price point.”

2018 Honda Clarity Plug-in Hybrid

Here more details about the standard equipment of the 2018 Honda Clarity Plug-in Hybrid:

Clarity Plug-in Hybrid

Features

Safety & Driver Assist

Exterior

Interior

Smart Start and Entry

TFT Gauge Cluster

8-Speaker Audio

Dual-Zone Auto A/C

8.0″ Display Audio

Bluetooth®

USB Audio Interface

Pandora®

SMS texting capability

Sirius XM

HD™ Radio

Heated Front Seats

Multi-Angle Rearview Camera

Steering-Wheel Audio Controls

Cruise Control

HomeLink®

Honda Sensing®

Honda LaneWatch™

Vehicle Stability Assist®

Side Curtain Airbags

Driver and front passenger front, side and knee airbags

18″ alloy wheels

LED auto on/off headlights

LED daytime running lights

LED taillights

Chrome door handles

Rain-sensing variable Intermittent windshield wipers

Security with Remote Keyless Access

Heated Side Mirrors

60/40 Split Fold-Down Rear Seat

Electronic Parking Brake with Brake Hold

Rear A/C Vents

Auto-Dimming Rearview Mirror

Soft-touch Instrument and door panels

Floor Mats

Sunglasses Holder

All Windows Auto-Up/Down

Clarity Plug-in Hybrid Touring

Navigation with Charging Infrastructure Information

Leather-Wrapped Steering Wheel

Driver’s Seat with 8-Way Power Adjustment and 2-Position Memory

Front Passenger’s Seat with 4-Way Power Adjustment

Perforated Leather- Trimmed Seats

Ultrasuede® Interior

Honda Clarity Plug-in Hybrid

The Clarity Plug-in Hybrid earned the highest all-electric range rating among all plug-in hybrid sedans with its EPA range rating of 47 miles on a full charge.2 The model also received an EPA fuel economy rating of 110 combined MPGe, among the top of midsize plug-in hybrids, and a gasoline only 44/40/42 MPG rating (city/highway/combined).2

For longer trips, the Clarity Plug-in Hybrid can utilize its hyper-efficient 1.5-liter Atkinson cycle 4-cylinder engine to generate electricity and, under certain conditions, to act as a direct power source. The Clarity Plug-in received an overall EPA driving range rating of 340 miles.2

The vehicle’s electromotive power comes from a 181-horsepower electric motor producing 232 lb.-ft. of torque and drawing power from both the gasoline engine and a 17-kilowatt hour (kWh) battery pack with a recharge time of just 2.5 hours at 240 volts. The Clarity Plug-in features Honda’s two-motor hybrid powertrain that has a total system output of 212 horsepower.3

The Clarity Plug-in Hybrid features three selectable modes – Normal, Econ and Sport – allowing drivers to customize their experience, maximizing efficiency or driving performance. A fourth mode – HV mode – is provided to maintain the battery’s state of charge and can be selected in conjunction with Normal, Econ and Sport driving modes.

The Clarity Plug-in Hybrid joins the Clarity Electric, launched August 2017, and Clarity Fuel Cell, launched in December 2016, to complete the Clarity series of vehicles, offering customers an array of electrified vehicle choices in a sophisticated, spacious and comprehensively equipped five-passenger midsize sedan. The Clarity series is at the forefront of Honda’s initiative to bring electrified vehicle technology into the mainstream. The company has announced its intention for electrified vehicles to comprise two-thirds of its global automobile sales by 2030.

Honda Clarity Series

All-New Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid Debuted At The NY Auto Show In April (Photo:InsideEVs/Sebastion Blanco)

As the next progression of Honda’s dynamic styling for electrified products, each Clarity variant has a low, wide aerodynamic body with unique design elements, including its own special hero color, and differentiated front styling, headlights, tail lamps, non-compromised trunk space, Honda Sensing standard and 18-inch alloy wheel designs. Combined with elegant and advanced exterior styling, each Clarity series vehicle has a spacious interior with comfortable seating for five adults, outfitted with premium, environmentally responsible materials.

Offering Honda’s “fun-to-drive” DNA, each Clarity variant provides a smooth, quiet and highly refined driving experience, aided by the smooth and seamless character of electric drive torque and acceleration. The Clarity series also features advanced technologies, including Display Audio with Android Auto™ and Apple CarPlay™ integration, and the full suite of Honda Sensing® safety and driver-assistive technologies.

With three different powertrains and luxury packaging, this shared “3-in-1” platform strategy is enabling Honda to respond to infrastructure and market developments, provide customers nationwide with an ultra-low carbon vehicle that meets their lifestyle needs, and will take Honda toward higher volume sales of advanced powertrain products that will help reduce CO2 emissions.

The Clarity is fairly ugly, but the specs and price are very competitive. The first PHEV that can actually legitimately go toe to toe with the Volt.
I think the Clarity PHEV will cut into Volt sales, just as the Prius Prime (puke) and the Bolt have. The Volt really needs a refresh or something ASAP.

Ya, I think this just put the Volt on notice! You can’t just mash the accelerator like you can the Volt and stay in EV mode which I have to admit is fun but it’s a bigger and more comfortable car at a great price and comparable AER.

Are they going to stock it nationwide, or just make it available for order like Hyundai and Kia do with the Sonata and Optima? Those should crush the Volt and Fusion too, but I could go to my local dealer today, test drive, and buy a Volt or Fusion today (or an S90 T8 if I could afford it) and I can’t do that with those two Korean sedans.

I don’t really care for the look but what I think gets me the most is the rear wheel well panel. It’s like they just couldn’t quite leave it alone and had to make it look a little different than every other car out there. Heck, even the Mirai, which I think has a ton of ridiculous “styling cues” has a normal rear wheel well panel.

It’s definitely on my list to check out as my current lease is up in about a year.

Check out this for the trunk. The battery definitely intrudes. This for for the BEV so while the PHEV may not be as bad I suspect it’ll be intruded upon somewhat

The trunk on the Clarity EV has a decent amount of space, but its usability is compromised because of the odd angles that the battery pack creates taking up the space vacated by the hydrogen tanks. I’d imagine that the PHEV would suffer from substantially the same problem, though they might be able to put in a little more space since it has a smaller battery.

I test drove the vehicle. The trunk is plenty spacious. The ride is much better than the Ioniq it tried. Very spacious and good looking inside. About the same price as the Volt, but more practical because of the rear seat roominess. The styling may be a problem with some folks, but I am leaning towards this vehicle because I want some luxury with my green credentials.

Sad to say, but I think we’ll see GM discount the Gen 2 Volt some more, perhaps add a few tweaks through the 2020 model to keep it selling, but we won’t see any new major upgrades or re-engineering before retiring this product in 2021. GM has their engineering focus on the Bolt-based products, their other two new BEV platforms and they likely have new PHEV-specific RWD and AWD platforms in development for the big-ticket full-size truck/SUV lines.

This car will definitely be on my list for replacing a Chevy Volt, although not until 2019. Chevy Volt is a great car, but the back seat is kind of uncomfortable and has poor visibility.

The one thing I don’t understand is why the BEV version of the Clarity sucks so bad (pathetic range), when the PHEV can get half the electric range. You’d think ditching the gas motor would have opened up enough space to get more than 90 miles of range. How come the e-Golf can get 125 miles of range when it’s a much smaller car with less room for batteries?

The e-Golf undoubtedly has a different battery composition, which has been improved from the original e-Golf while maintaining the same space. As for the Clarity Electric, the battery takes up the space vacated by the hydrogen tank and some nooks and crannies, but there aren’t any bits of it under the hood where a LOT of empty space resides.

Looks like a winner to me. The odd shaped trunk would be easily mitigated with a cover for the lower part. Then it would have a large sub-trunk storage area and a flat loading area even with the trunk latch, like an SUV.

It’s been hit with the ugly stick but the specs are really good. I don’t understand these BMW hybrids with <20 electric only range as I don't think I would bother to plug it in but this you could do a commute easily during the week and recharge at home and then at the weekend zero range anxiety. The only issue beyond this is I'd like to see wireless charging on it.

Shouldn’t we be happy about that, that they’re reducing their emissions? If they’re taking up popular spots for hours, sure that’s annoying, but personally I’m happy to hear that they are actually trying to use their cars as EVs.

As others have said, the real-world availability is the big issue with this product. If it’s a slow roll out (which I expect) and we get to March or April and the car is very hard to find or get outside of the usual half dozen states (which I desperately hope isn’t the case), then it will be little more than greenwashing.

I’ve been highly critical of two car companies regarding electric vehicles, namely Honda and Toyota. So I really am quite happy to see the news detailed in this article. I’m just keeping my fingers crossed that it represents the beginning of a major tipping point for Honda (and other companies they influence), and not a set up for a massive disappointment.

Yeah, the slow charger really sucks in the Volt. It has a small battery, so you’d think you could recharge it on a Level 2 in only an hour or two, but the pathetic charge speed means it really takes just as long as charging a full BEV, for less range in the end.

Very affordably priced compared to Volt.
While Volt has an extra 6 mile electric range, Clarity seats 5 full passengers, has 5 extra cu. ft. of space and all this for just $100 extra. Whether they will sell at full level or just allot fewer units to dealers needs to be seen.

Still Mitsu Outlander-PHV has a better advantage compared to both these vehicles as its much bigger and also has AWD. Waiting for the pricing on Hyundai-Ioniq and Kia-Niro. Let’s see.

If the price after Fed rebate is $26,790 (incl. dest. charge), then it will easily grab the sales from hybrid versions of Accord, Camry, Fusion. Big challenge is how much they supply to dealers. Its $3,000 more than Fusion-Plugin, but has 25 extra miles and a slightly higher MPG and much more interior space.

And 1 plugin exits (C-Max) while another (Clarity) enters. Will the Clarity sell around 700 – 800 units / month to fill the void left by the C-Max.

Still no idea whether Sonata/Optima Hybrid/Plugin will be there. I think the rising production of Tesla Model-3 could stir the pot and bring some price reductions.

I don’t get what you mean by “all EV driving experience” What makes you think this is any different? Honda’s two motor system can run electric only for the 47 miles. And it’s got more HP on electric than the Volt does (181 vs 149)

Well – there are the fools who take road trips. My wife does occasionally need range. When she does, she drives my car but she would prefer not to.

She has a Leaf and I have an S.

Tuesday, she is driving 150 miles to her parents – borrowing my car. Even the new Leaf would be a challenge. I have to do a 70 mile RT. Hope it isn’t really cold or raining….

Anyway, I have a reservation but I don’t expect to spend $35k on a model 3. There are a lot more features likely in a Clarity base vs a model 3. (not that different really though). But little things like color will cost on a Tesla. The trunk may have more real world usability.

Then there is the TC expiring for Tesla eventually. Then the Honda has a big advantage.

We are an EV family but a good PHEV for our use is pretty good. About 2 times a year, my wife wants to take a road trip without me. So she would be hitting 10-15 gallons a year. I think we can live with that. Maintenance though is a concern and maybe similar cost and inconvenience as a rental car.

I’m on the waiting list for the fuel cell Clarity. Should be a January delivery. I guess it will still be a 2017 model? The lease is 20k miles/year, includes $15,000 worth of hydrogen, gets a $5000 tc, includes 15 days of a luxury rental, and gets a hov sticker. I’m in the Los Angeles area and there is a H2 filling station 0.25 miles off the freeway on my way to work (19 miles). Is this new plug in Clarity a better deal and fit? If yes why? Thanks.

Well Hydrogen is normally the expensive and inefficient way of propulsion. Unless the hydrogen is produced by renewable energy. But it does offer the convenience of long range and quick fill-up’s if you are close to a H2 station. I wouldn’t be surprised if dealerships try to charge a higher payment on a $33k Clarity plug in vs the $58k FCV Clarity. From a financial prespective the FCV is the more compelling deal if you can still get 20k miles a year and $15000 free fuel. And they even throw in a few days a year of covered luxury car rental. So as long as you dont need a big trunk, Very tempting.

Why but why can’t the Japanese make reasonably good looking cars ! I am rather fed up to buy German cars and wish to buy a Japanese car once in a while but they most of the time look so…weird if not downright ugly. Can’t they send their designers to Europe or hire European car designers ? Koreans did this with outstanding results.

Benz, there is one filling station 0.25 miles off the freeway in my direct path of travel between Northridge and Culver City and about 6 within 5 miles. I’ve stopped by several of them and I have not seen a car there. This is quite different than all you guys waiting in line and tempted to unhook the guys who just left their cars there hooked up. Maybe you’re lucky enough to have a lot of free time and like socializing?

Your supposition is incorrect. The Clarity would be for commuting and seems pretty cheap for that purpose and a HOV sticker. For the non-commuting days, you get 14 days of a luxury rental included with the lease and besides I have a gas guzzling luxury suv for carrying and towing things for longer distances.

Do you know how many people years ago thought that electric cars were the path to no where? There were not many charging stations then either and it took forever to charge. How could you make such a bold statement with any credence when fuel cell technology is still in its infancy?

I think this hydrogen lease special from Honda is very tempting. I checked into it and was surprised to find there was a 5 month waiting list.
I’m on my 6th EV, and 1 irex. I will be the first to admit the frustration of crowded ccs stations. And only having 1 ccs charger for entire cities that have one is woefully inadequate. It used to be so pleasant to find available stations, but not so anymore. There is almost always an egolf, bolt, spark, i3, etc charging or waiting. Miss the low congestion of being an early adopter. The hydrogen station’s would bring back that same conveniece. Surely even you can see how much a 300 MI recharge in 5 minutes brings a new level of convenience?? And if there is another FCEV there, unlike an EV, the waiting period will be minutes, instead of wondering if the EV driver is coming back any time soon.

Regarding will Honda promote this car at all, here in San Francisco I was delighted to see four billboards in the Mission, on the 101, and on the Bay Bridge (pricey real estate) advertising the Honda Clarity all electric. Obviously SF is a pretty EV-loving market, but hopefully this continues with the plug-in hybrid model.

I believe it will stay in EV mode unless you accelerate hard. It has four modes. One of which turns the ice motor on and leaves it on to save battery. Ideal use for the highway. Use any of the three EV modes in the city. Once on highway use the hold mode.

While trunk size remains unknown at this point, the real question is whether Honda will stock these enough to really take market share. If they hold back in favor of selling the FCEV or EV versions, they’ll shoot themselves in the foot. If stocked properly, they can easily pass the Fusion Energi, probably the Volt, and really put pressure on the Prime due to larger tax credit.

With a hybrid you still have 2 power trains vs one. The range extender for the BMW is is a low maintenance , inexpensive 2 cylinder motorcycle engine which I prefer. But then again it is a tinny vehicle like the Bolt. The Honda is very large which it has that going for it!

It also comes with a CEL- check engine light. The Rex motor has several issues. Our was lemoned. Several repairs and even left us stranded on the roadside. Despite the lemons we loved the car. Absolute best City car made to date. Balanced perfect. Power, handling, fun!

I would expect and hope for better ICE mpg in the real world. The accord hybrid two mode system with a larger 2.0 engine or the camary hybrid 2.5 engine both get same or better epa mpg than this clarity.

I know the clarity is a phev. But it’s designed from the ground up to be a mpg king in a larger car. Larger than the volt.

The Clarity for 36 months
$369×36=$13284
$2900 down
-$5000 rebate
-$6120 in paid fuel (what I spend in gas dollars)
-$1050 in paid luxury car rental
The fuel cell Clarity would cost only $111/month for a new $60k vehicle with a range of over 300 miles per 5 minute fill-up

Actually for FC it will be around $3,700 drive off including all fees taxes and registration plus expansive routine maintenance (join Honda Clarity FC FB page and you will see owners complaining about it…eventually ending up in the thousands after 3 years) and also expensive vehicle insurance as they will quote it as a luxury vehicle (high symbol) so it will end up costing more than your $7,000 Leaf example (and will need to return the FC at the end of 3 years v.s. Leaf you keep).
I was on the waiting list and when it got to my turn back in August I found out about all the other costs so I cancelled it and now waiting for the PHEV.

Benz
Please elaborate on the difference. It doesn’t matter how long people have been talking about fuel cells. They only recently have been able to make it feasible. So the clock for us, the consumer only started about a year ago.